Clinical characteristics of type 2 diabetes patients with discordance between HbA 1c and fasting plasma glucose in the real world: An analysis of the ORBIT study.

BACKGROUND: We aimed to determine the clinical characteristics of type 2 diabetes patients on basal insulin therapy with inadequate glucose control due to discordance between glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c ) and fasting plasma glucose (FPG) in the real world.

METHODS: This was a retrospective analysis of data from the ORBIT study in China. Clinical characteristics of patients with discordance between HbA1c and FPG at baseline and at the end of 6 months of follow-up were analysed using multinomial logistic regression in 4 study groups divided by HbA1c and FPG.

RESULTS: Overall, of 6721 patients initiated on basal insulin, 853 achieved HbA1c  < 7% but FPG ≥ 7 mmol/L (group 2), while 997 had FPG < 7 mmol/L but HbA1c  ≥ 7% (group 3) at the end of follow-up. Patients in group 3 had a longer duration of type 2 diabetes compared with those in group 2 (7.22 ± 5.30 vs 6.00 ± 4.80 y, P < .05). Patients on glargine (32.90%) or detemir (36.88%) treatment accounted for a higher proportion of patients with both HbA1c and FPG controlled than those on neutral protamine Hagedorn therapy (23.45%; P < .05). Per the multinomial logistic analysis, higher frequency of self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) and use of glargine or detemir therapy were significantly inversely associated with risk of discordance between HbA1c and FPG, while dose of insulin was a risk factor for discordance at the end of follow-up (all P < .05).

CONCLUSIONS: Patients treated with insulin analogues (glargine or detemir), instead of neutral protamine Hagedorn, and with more frequent SMBG are more likely to exhibit concordance between HbA1c and FPG.